To Be a Huntsman
by ganto
Summary: Being ridiculed and picked on by almost everyone in school, Roland was convinced he was born to be a loser. But one day he met someone who pulled him out of the mud, taught him to stand for himself and gave him a chance to start anew. Fulfilling his childhood dream, Roland rose to his greatest challenge so far: the Beacon Academy. (RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth, except my OC's)
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: _So how do I begin... I watched the whole first season of RWBY and needless to say I LOVED it (even though I don't usually watch anime) so here it is: I'm officially joining the RWBY-fanfic craze. This is an idea I've had on my mind for a several weeks. To summarize it somehow, we've seen only three teams so far: RWBY (yay!), JNPR (yay!) and CRDL (boo!). My initial idea was: how much would another team mess with the original canon? But this proved to be a lot more challenging since I had to think through the appearance, weapons, abilities and personalities of my original characters (a task I'm still working on). And thus the updates probably won't be much frequent, because I alse have to work on my studies as well._

_I don't want to give away any details about the story, but the team of my OC's will be a real motley crew, so things can get quite interesting as the story progresses... Story is rated T (for now) for language._

_And before I forget, I apologize for any silly grammatical mistakes and generally butchering english language in my story, and of course a disclaimer: RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth and absolutely fantastic Mr. Monty Oum! And now, enjoy the story, please!_

* * *

To be a Huntsman

Chapter 1 – A dream coming true

He let out an exasperated groan as he saw a huge crowd of people gathered at the dock. He had not a faintest idea how he was supposed to make his way through without getting injured or losing some of his luggage in the process. He was carrying a back pack and a large suitcase in his right hand while pulling a wheeled trunk behind him. He breathed heavily as he dragged himself and all his stuff towards the airship. Now that he thought about it, he really should have taken up his mother's offer to give him a lift to the port and help him with his luggage. It would have certainly saved him a lot of trouble; but _no_, he just had to put on the all-tough act, saying he was a grown-up man and would take care of his baggage all by himself. Oh, how he cursed his stupidity right now…

But regrets were pointless; he had to steel himself for what was awaiting in just a few hours. Pushing his way through the mass of people, he approached the airship which would take him towards his future. Even now he found it hard to believe that he, Roland Peregrine, a young man from some backwater village would be accepted to the Beacon Academy, a prestigious school where some of the best hunters and huntresses were trained. Yes, becoming a hunter was something he dreamt of for a long time, but he never anticipated it would come true someday.

The fact he was accepted was little short of a miracle. Roland was not much of a hunter material; he was only an average fighter and during sparring sessions he usually got quite a beating, only barely keeping up with his peers. Those few matches he managed to win were of no consequence. He had a knack for marksmanship though and he was able to figure out any firearm he ever got his hands on. However, Roland was sure that headmaster Ozpin would not let him attend his school just because of his aim; he would surely expect something more, and Roland did not know whether he would be able to prove himself.

He frowned as unwelcome memories from childhood flooded his mind.

oOo

_Roland fought to suppress a yawn as he scribbled notes in his tattered notebook. He hated school from the bottom of his heart. Contrary to their purpose, the classes never taught him anything useful, instead they made him feel even stupider and annoyed him to no end. But that was only one of reasons why he was getting rather poor grades in school. He had no real friends to speak of and that left him even more depressed. The other kids shut him out almost as soon as he started attending the school. Only a few of them would ever talk to him and he was mostly ignored. It hurt him, knowing he was alone just for being different, even though he eventually came to terms with that; he was short, clumsy and sickly and he thought differently than most of the kids from town._

_Roland let out a soft sigh as he kept on listening to the teacher's lecture. Yes, most of his classmates ignored him openly, but that also meant they left him alone. It was a fact he only started appreciating after a bunch of boys from a higher grade began picking on him. It started out as jeering remarks and name-calling, which he learned to ignore rather easily. However, mockery and insults soon led to a full-blown bullying, which included destroying his belongings, stealing his lunch money and even beating, if he had not any; every month it was getting worse. Roland shivered involuntarily when he dared to think about what Augustus and his bunch of goons had in store for him today._

_Finally the class ended; Roland packed his stuff and bolted out of the classroom, not noticing the confused stares of the teacher and some schoolmates. Of course, they did not know a thing about his problems; if Augustus ever got wind of him telling anybody, he would be a dead man. Roland dashed through the corridors, narrowly dodging other kids and heading towards the exit. When he was getting closer, he took a look behind him; no one ran after him, and more importantly, no one stood in his way. Roland picked up the speed and rushed out in front of the school, relishing the long-awaited freedom._

_Unfortunately, his joy was only short-lived. He managed to make only a few steps before he slammed face-first into someone; while the obstacle did not even budge, Roland stumbled back and fell flat on his rear. He looked up to see who he had just run into; when he saw a tall large boy giving him an evil grin, he knew he was in deep trouble. He started backing away from the boy only to be hauled on his feet by bully's friends._

"_Well, look what we have here." The large boy sneered. "Did you really think you could sneak away from us, runt?" Roland was so terrified he could not make a sound, let alone give the bully an answer. "That's what I thought." The bully leader leaned closer to him. "I believe you owe me something, little boy." He whispered menacingly._

"_W-what?" Roland squeaked, earning a slap from the large boy. Bully's friends tightened their grip on him._

"_Do you take me for an idiot?" The bully snarled at him._

"_You d-didn't ask me about m-my lunch money, Augustus, so I-I spent it-" Roland stammered in fright, only to be interrupted by a fist rammed into his stomach._

"_What?!" The bully, Augustus, yelled at him. "What makes you think I have to _ask _you for something that is mine, you dumb wimp?" Roland was pushed towards the bully who slapped him once again. He staggered back to Augustus' friends who failed to catch him, however. He used the sudden confusion to his advantage and attempted to escape. He only managed to make a few steps before he stopped, doubling over in pain; Augustus could throw a really mean punch. Very soon he got tackled to the ground; he rolled to his back groaning in pain and shrank away in fear from Augustus standing right above him._

_The bully lifted him by his collar. "I think you need to learn your damn place, runt. You really should've thought twice before tricking me." He growled and raised his fist to strike. Roland closed his eyes in surrender, waiting for an inevitable beating._

_He did not expect getting dropped to the ground; he was unlucky enough to painfully twist his ankle as he fell down. He cried out in pain, gripping his wounded limb and ignoring everything what was happening around him; dull sounds and cries and whimpers of Augustus and his friends. When Roland finally recovered a bit, he saw his tormentors rolling about on the ground and moaning in pain; Augustus even seemed knocked unconscious, lying limply near his whimpering friends._

_Roland stared at the whole spectacle, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Suddenly a shadow fell upon him; he looked up… and froze in fear. He saw a tall hulking figure looming over him; he got even more scared when he noticed two huge ram-like horns protruding from the person's skull. It looked just like some monster from horror tales… and it was probably about to eat him. The last thing Roland expected the creature to do was to extend its hand._

"_You okay there, pal?"_

oOo

Roland smiled to himself. That was how he met Emilio Aries, the first real friend he had in years and the man who taught him how to stand up for himself. Roland had only a little in common with the pathetic little kid he used to be six years ago; if someone pushed him around, he did not hesitate to pay them back with interests. Eventually he got back at Augustus and his thugs who never even thought of bothering him again afterwards… and God, it felt _great_. He had vowed that he would never again allow himself to be weak. The Beacon Academy was going to test that.

Deeply in thoughts, he forgot to watch where he was going; it did not take long before he bumped into somebody. A loud clatter sounded as his luggage hit the ground. He was about to apologize when he found himself face to face with a hulking young man about a head taller than himself and wearing a simple green T-shirt and loose brown pants. He clenched his fists involuntarily, expecting a physical assault or at least several insults. Instead, the huge blonde simply flashed a strange, almost clueless smile.

"Hello!"

Roland only stared, taken aback by the unexpected reaction. That bear of a man seemed completely unfazed by the fact he just walked into him. "Uh… hello?" He finally said after regaining his speech.

"I'm Desmond." The giant boy extended his hand. "Are you going to Beacon too?"

"Uh… yeah. Name's Roland; nice to meet you." Roland replied and shook hands with the boy; he winced as Desmond squeezed his hand with almost bone-crushing force.

"Nice to meet you too!" Desmond beamed, completely oblivious to Roland rubbing his sore hand. "My buddies from school didn't get accepted into the Beacon so I was hoping to meet some new people and perhaps make some new friends. I really like meeting new people and making friends; the Beacon will be sooo much fun, I mean putting down baddies and being all awesome heroes, it's just so cool and-" He kept rambling until a feminine voice interrupted him.

"Desmond! What did I tell you about bothering people?" An elderly looking woman rushed to Desmond's side and pulled him aside. "I'm sorry; my son tries to make friends with every person he sees. He doesn't understand it when some people aren't interested…" She apologized.

Roland had to suppress a grin when he saw Desmond making something like puppy eyes at his mother. "Aw mama, I was just talking with my friend over there…" He could not help but laugh; they barely knew each other, hell, they just met for the first time and Desmond already considered him a friend. He did not seem like a bad person, despite his intimidating stature.

"It's no trouble, ma'am." He said a bit awkwardly and waved at Desmond. "I guess I'll see you on the ship, then."

"You bet, Roland." Desmond replied with a smile. "See ya later!" The giant boy and his mother disappeared within the crowd.

Roland sighed quietly and bent down to pick up his baggage. He was too busy to hear clicking footsteps approaching him from behind. When he finally managed to gather up his belongings he almost dropped them again when someone clapped him on his shoulder and nearly scared the soul out of him.

"So, little Roland is going to become a hunter too, eh?"

Roland swung around to face the intruder. He was facing a slim black-haired girl almost as tall as he was, thanks to her heeled boots. She wore tight-fitting white pants, light-violet blouse that bared her midriff and a navy blue jacket with gold trims reminiscent of a navy officer's uniform. Roland felt a grin creeping upon his lips; her outfit kind of reminded him of what the pirates from stories wore, that included a sky blue bandana in her long hair tied into a single braid. There was only one person he knew that would choose such clothing.

"Tanya?"

The girl fixed her deep brown eyes at him, flashing a lopsided smirk. "What? Not even a hug for your old friend?" She asked teasingly.

"Oh, how can I say 'no' to a pretty face like yourself?" Roland joked back. Though he had to admit, she was one of the prettiest girls he had ever met. She was a younger sister of one of Emilio's friends; that was how he got to know her.

"Flatterer;" Tanya smirked and pulled him into an embrace, which he gladly returned. "Too bad you're not my type." She added huskily.

Roland felt his cheeks heating; she just had to bring _that_ up. "Thanks, now you've made me blush." He muttered, earning a giggle from his friend. Tanya's remark reminded him of his little crush on her a few years back. At that time he seriously thought about dating her; she was witty, clever, beautiful, everything a guy would ever wish for. When he finally found the courage to ask her out, he found out that… she did not fancy boys, to put it mildly. He would be a liar if he said it did not surprise him, but he had no idea how anxiously she guarded her secret. She made him promise her that he would never tell anybody; even though he never understood why she was so secretive about her… _preferences_, he kept his promise. Their friendship grew even stronger after Tanya's confession. "What are you even doing here?" He asked as they broke the embrace.

Tanya raised her brow. "What do you think, Roland? I enrolled to Beacon Academy to kill monsters, just like you did!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I should ask you the same thing! 'Little Roland goes to Beacon and doesn't tell me squat'… and I thought we were friends!" She replied, feigning hurt rather theatrically.

Roland could not help but laugh at her antics… and the nickname she had for him. "Yeah, I suppose I should've told you that." He answered sheepishly. "But you too didn't bother to let me know about your plans and you must've known about your admission beforehand."

"Yeah, I did." Tanya smiled. "Say, didn't I see you talking with some huge blonde a while ago?"

Roland nodded understandingly. "You mean Desmond?"

"Making friends already?" She laughed. "That's good; for a minute I thought you ticked him off somehow. It wouldn't exactly be the best first impression."

"He seemed like a good guy, although a bit dopey; you'll see when you meet him." He replied.

"I can't wait." Tanya remarked; then she looked at the airship docking nearby. "We might want to get aboard before they take off without us, don't you think?" Roland nodded wordlessly and picked up his luggage.

It took half an hour of standing in a ridiculously long line just to have their luggage moved into the safety of the airship's cargo hold. Roland found himself increasingly annoyed by crowds of people bumping into him; he felt an immense relief when they finally got aboard the airship. It was much more peaceful than out there in the docks. They walked on the deck looking for somewhere to sit; to their delight, there were still some empty seats on the passenger deck; they claimed seats near the window before anyone could beat them to it. Roland peeked out of the window; the view was magnificent but it made his head spin a little. Meanwhile, Tanya pulled out a small pillow from her backpack and put it under her head. He had to stifle a laugh; he knew too well how fast she was able to fall asleep.

Having nothing else to do, Roland leaned back into his seat and pulled out a music player. Before he stuck headphones into his ears, he took a look around the deck. He did not see many of the young students talking to each other; it was safe to assume they were all strangers, not only to him but also to each other.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with us! This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop… can't… breathe…"

Roland glanced around the deck looking for the source of the sudden ruckus. His eyes fell on a tall, long-haired and rather… well endowed blonde enveloping a young, black-and-red clad girl in a bear hug. The short girl finally managed to wriggle out of the blonde's embrace, struggling for air. Maybe not all people here were complete strangers, Roland thought. He kept watching the duo and listening to their banter; then a voice on his left disturbed him.

"You're not afraid the big girl will catch you staring?"

He gave Tanya a genuinely puzzled look, causing her to erupt in giggles. Roland just kept staring blankly at her… until it dawned on him; only Tanya would ever come up with something like _that_. "I'm not staring!" He objected a bit heatedly. "I was just trying to find some resemblance; they don't even look like sisters!"

"How do you know? Wait, forget I asked." Tanya gave him an impish smile. "But you do realize it's quite rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversation, right?"

"It was impossible not to hear that." Roland grumbled. The blonde girl and her black haired sister kept chatting, although a bit quieter; he caught some words such as 'bee's knees', 'normal knees' or 'two years ahead', not that it made much sense to him.

"Maybe you'll get a chance to ask them personally." Tanya quipped. She was about to add something else but instead she turned around as she suddenly heard loud, gagging sounds. As if on cue, a lanky, partially armored young man with messy blonde hair staggered into the view, one hand clutching his stomach while covering his mouth with the other. His face, having turned a noticeable shade of green, was pretty self-explanatory. The others were backing away from the sick youngster in terror as he stumbled across the deck.

"Looks like someone forgot to take their barf bag." Roland said, chuckling softly. This was the first time he saw anyone suffering from air-sickness, or whatever doctors called it. He never had this kind of problems and that was saying something, given how often he would get sick only a couple years back.

Tanya started rummaging through her backpack and pulled out a small paper bag. "Hey Vomit boy!" She yelled at the sick blonde. When the boy in question turned around, she tossed him the bag. "And remember _not_ to give it back, please!" She added as an afterthought.

The poor boy gave her a grateful look and managed to croak a simple 'thanks' before he scurried away to empty his upset stomach. His actions did not remain unnoticed however.

"What in the hell are you doing?!"

"Eww, gross!"

Roland shook his head and put on his headphones. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

"Hey, wake up!"

Roland did not react; he sat slumped in his seat, snoring lightly. Tanya shook him harder but to no avail, he remained fast asleep. She could only wonder how he dropped off to sleep like this, especially when the loud music kept blaring in his headphones. The airship had reached its destination and the aspiring huntsmen and huntresses were getting ready to disembark. Tanya sighed and leaned to her friend's ear, taking off his headphones.

"WAKEY-WAKEY!" She yelled loudly in his ear.

It worked flawlessly; Roland jolted awake with a startled yell, catching the attention of the other passengers who only shook their heads in disbelief. When he somehow calmed himself he glared at Tanya who was grinning from ear to ear. "Goddammit Tanya, what the fuck?!" He growled at her angrily, rubbing his deafened left ear.

"We're there." She replied calmly, the annoying smile never leaving her lips. "You somehow dozed off and it looked like you weren't going to wake up anytime soon, so… I had to resort to drastic measures."

"_Drastic measures_? Biggest fucking understatement of the year." Roland grumbled and got up from his seat, heading to the exit. Tanya only shrugged and walked after him.

They were among the last to leave the airship. He did not have to go pick up his luggage as it was already being moved to the Academy. Roland was pleasantly surprised; now he did not have to drag his stuff all the way to the school. He nearly ruined his back just on the way to the airship and he did not really want to undergo that experience again. When Roland and Tanya finally set foot on the solid ground, they could not help but feel amazed at the marvelous sight that awaited them. The road ahead of them led through a large park with lush green lawn and several flowerbeds. The road itself was lined with trees and benches. However beautiful the park was, it was overshadowed by a large castle-like building standing far behind it. This was the Beacon Academy in all its glory. Roland stared slack-jawed at the monumental building, taken aback by its sheer size. The Academy was renowned as a place, where the elite huntsmen and huntresses were trained, so he knew it had to be impressive; however this was truly beyond anything he expected.

"That's… a really big place." He whispered to himself.

"Really? That's all you've got to say?" Tanya chuckled, shaking her head. "Just look at that, it's gorgeous!" She gushed, pointing at the Academy. "It doesn't even look like a school; it's more like a castle fit for a king, imagine how big it is inside! And we're gonna study there, oh this is gonna be so awesome!"

"Calm down, Tanya." Roland reproached his friend, noticing people staring at them. "I know, it's impressive and all, but shouldn't we just move on? We can always go sightseeing later."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." Tanya replied, blushing slightly. "Let's get going then."

The two of them walked along the path and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings. Both of them remained silent, although for different reasons. Tanya was engrossed in marveling at the park and the building of the Academy while Roland thought about one particular question. He had made it here to the Beacon Academy but that was only the beginning; the more difficult part was about to start.

His train of thoughts was suddenly and violently interrupted as he heard an explosion somewhere ahead of him. Instinctively he threw himself on the ground, wishing he had his weapons at hand. He turned to Tanya, only to find her staring at him with quizzical expression.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Didn't you hear the explosion?" Roland hissed back. He started to realize something was amiss as some passers-by gave him weird looks. Tanya simply stared at him; then she burst out laughing. "What the fuck are you laughing at?!" He snapped as he lifted himself of the ground. Tanya did not answer; she only managed to point somewhere ahead between her fits of laughter. He looked in that particular direction and saw a familiar black haired girl in a red-black dress and a red cape arguing with a white-haired, wealthy looking girl in white dress. The white dress seemed incredibly upset about something; then another girl clad in white and black joined them. The white haired girl calmed down for a bit only to get angry again in only a few seconds. In the end she walked away offended and the black clad girl did the same shortly afterwards; that left only the red cape standing in the place.

Tanya managed to calm herself in the meantime. "I wonder what _that_ was all about." She spoke.

"She doesn't look happy." A new voice on her left said. Tanya looked around and saw a familiar air-sick blonde from the ship, only now he looked normal. He wore simple blue jeans and some armor plates over his black hoodie, covering his chest, back, shoulders and arms. He gazed at Tanya and his eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"Feeling better now, Vomit boy?" She asked with a smirk.

"Much better; those damn airships will be the death of me." The youngster replied awkwardly. "By the way thanks for the bag; it saved me from puking all over the floor at least."

"You're welcome." Tanya said cheerily. "Say, it would be quite weird if I called you Vomit boy all the time, so…"

"Oh… yeah, you're right." The blonde chuckled and extended his hand. "I'm Jaune Arc."

Tanya took his hand and shook it. "My name is Tanya Griffon." She pointed at Roland who stood some distance apart. "And Mr. Jumpy over there-"

"Hey!" Roland protested.

Tanya stuck out her tongue at him, causing Jaune to laugh a little. "As I was saying, that is Roland Peregrine."

"Nice to meet you, Jaune." Roland said, bowing his head politely. "Shall we continue?"

The trio continued walking to the Academy, approaching the red cape girl who had just lain down on the path and stared up at heavens. Jaune walked to the dejected looking girl and offered her a hand while Roland and Tanya watched from nearby.

"Hey, I'm Jaune."

The red cape accepted his hand after a brief moment of hesitation. "Ruby." She introduced herself as Jaune pulled her up to her feet. "Wait… aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" She asked cheekily after looking at him more carefully.

Jaune rolled his eyes with a groan, while Tanya and Roland did their best to bite back their laughter. "Yeah, laugh it up, Ruby. It's not my fault that I have a motion sickness; it's a more common problem that you would think, you know. It makes travelling a living hell sometimes." He replied with a subtle hint of exasperation.

Ruby gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it's just… it was the first thing that came to my mind."

"Looks like the Vomit boy is gonna stick with you, Jaune." Tanya remarked, ignoring a glare from Jaune.

"Are they friends of yours?" Ruby asked inquisitively.

"Nah, we've just met." Roland answered before Jaune could. "I'm Roland, and this is Tanya; we two have known each other for years."

Tanya gave Ruby a small wave. "Nice meeting you, Ruby."

"So I already made a reputation here as a guy who couldn't keep his lunch down on the airship; that's cool." Jaune exclaimed sarcastically and pointed at Ruby. "I'd say _almost_ as cool as Miss Crater Face here who exploded a while back."

"Hey, that was an accident!" Ruby protested. "It wasn't even my fault to begin with!"

"Ehh… I guess we're missing something here." Roland chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well, after my big sister ditched me for some bunch of guys, I stumbled upon some luggage filled with Dust, got chewed out by some crabby Ice Princess, and then I exploded after a simple sneeze!" Ruby complained, gesturing wildly.

"Sounds like a hell of a story." Tanya said with a huge grin.

"You have no idea, Corsair girl." Ruby grinned back; when Tanya gave her a confused look she elaborated. "You look exactly like pirates from all these stories; only thing missing is a talking parrot on your shoulder."

"She's got a point, you know." Jaune piped up. "It really suits you."

"Aww, thank you, smooth talker." Tanya exclaimed with feigned delight, cupping Jaune's cheek and making him blush furiously.

Roland let out a soft laugh, amused by Tanya's theatrics. "We should head to the Academy; we don't want to miss anything, right?" He suggested.

The four soon-to-be hunters and huntresses began walking to the Academy building, bantering along the way. Ruby took the opportunity to show them her weapon; a sniper rifle fused with a scythe into a large bastard of a weapon. Roland was even more impressed when he learned that Ruby made the sniper scythe dubbed 'Crescent Rose' herself while studying at the Signal Academy, even though it seemed to be a bit of overkill to him. The fact she skipped two years and thus she was 2 years younger than everyone else spoke volumes of her. To be frank, he was not nearly as impressed by Jaune; the poor blonde seemed nervous all the time and on top of that he was incredibly clumsy. His weapons were a simple sword and a collapsible shield that also served as a sheath for the sword; Jaune unwittingly touched the switch on the shield and almost failed to catch it as it suddenly retracted. Roland would think that the poor blonde would never make it past the first year but he did not have a habit of judging a book by its cover, so to speak; maybe Jaune would surprise them all someday… emphasize on maybe.

Too engrossed in his own thoughts, he paid no attention to his associates' conversation.

"Why did you help me back there, in the courtyard? Not that I mind, of course." Ruby asked Jaune a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, you know, I thought it was the right thing to do. Besides as my mother would say, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Jaune replied.

Tanya flashed a mischievous grin and said. "Who wouldn't take the chance to help out a cute little sweetie like you?" She laughed loudly as both Jaune and Ruby turned scarlet from embarrassment. Roland only shook his head at Tanya's merciless teasing.

"Soooo… Where are we going again?" Jaune spoke up after a while, still blushing from Corsair girl's remarks.

Of course, Tanya was not done yet. "And here I thought men were good at directions." She deadpanned.

Now it was Ruby's turn to laugh.

* * *

Another author's note:_ So, this was the first chapter, I hope you liked it. I'd really appreciate your feedback; what was good (or not good), what should I correct, suggestions, notes, or worst-case-scenario, whether I should continue this story at all; you know, that kind of stuff. Any kind of opinion is welcome :-)_

_As I write this, the very last two hours of the year 2013 are ticking away. Even know I'm hearing a sound of fireworks; it's SO annyoing how impatient some people are, like if they couldn't wait until the midnight... _

_But I digress. So as the last thing I do in this year, I'd like to wish you all happy New Year and see you in 2014._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – First night in new school

After a few minutes of wandering around, Roland, Tanya, Jaune and Ruby finally found the hall where the entrance ceremony was taking place. The hall was already filled with aspiring huntsmen and huntresses; all of them were gathered before a platform at the front. The ceremony had yet to begin; they looked around the hall trying to find a place near the platform to squeeze into.

"Hey Ruby! Over here, I saved you a spot!"

Roland spun around as he heard a bright cheery voice coming from the left. His gaze fell upon the familiar blonde wearing a leather jacket with a bright yellow shirt underneath, orange scarf around her neck, black shorts and leather boots. Her whole outfit was rather revealing, showing off quite a bit of her cleavage; there were girls who would _kill_ to have breasts as big…

Roland suddenly felt his cheeks heating up; he averted his gaze, trying to look at anything _but_ the blonde girl. He did not want to get slapped in public for staring at someone's… _assets_; that did not seem to be a problem for Tanya, who was openly ogling the well endowed blonde.

"I gotta go; I'll see you guys after the ceremony!" Ruby quickly excused herself and walked away, not noticing the stares Tanya was giving to her sister.

"Oh great; now where am I supposed to find a nice, quirky girl to talk to?" Jaune sighed, looking a bit down.

"Hey, you've got us. Sure, we ain't girls, _mostly_, but that's not a problem, right?" Roland replied jokingly and turned its attention to Tanya. "Isn't it rude to stare at people like that?" He said loudly and snapped his fingers to bring his friend out of her trance.

She turned and gave him a blank look. "Huh?" When she noticed Roland's smirk and Jaune raising his eyebrow, she grew red and sputtered. "It's not what it looked like… I mean; how can she even stand straight with such big… Stop smiling, damn it!"

_Now I know what you were staring at_, Roland thought amusedly. "Real smooth, Corsair girl." He chuckled, his grin growing even wider.

"Shut up." Tanya grumbled her response.

"What was that about?" Jaune questioned, obviously not understanding what happened.

Roland repressed the urge to smack his forehead at his question. _Surely he can't be _that_ dense._ "Don't mind her, she's just jealous." He answered coolly; he did not plan on revealing Tanya's secret unless she said otherwise. Tanya blushed even more but did not say anything.

"YOU!"

"Oh God, it's happening again!"

They turned just in time to see Ruby jumping into her sister's arms as if she saw a spider on the floor. The cause of her fright turned out to be the white-haired girl who dressed her down earlier on the courtyard. The 'crabby princess', as Ruby called her, stood near her with the same angered expression.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" The princess yelled at Ruby, who recoiled as far away from her as possible.

"Oh my God, you really exploded." The blonde remarked dryly as she held her scared little sister.

"I didn't mean to; it was an accident!" Ruby explained hastily as she moved out of her sister's grasp. Before she could say anything else, the princess held out some kind of pamphlet.

Ruby stared in puzzlement at the small piece of paper. "Uh, what is that?"

The princess took a breath and delivered a long-winded speech about the Schnee Dust Company and its instructions for using Dust safely in any and all applications. At that point Roland had no doubts about who the 'crabby princess' was; it was Weiss Schnee, the daughter of the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company… who was also a former employer of Roland's father. As father told him once, Mr. Schnee was not the easiest person to work for and they did not part on the best terms; it involved a caved-in mining facility, the company supplying cheap and inadequate materials for supporting structures, several workers buried under tons of rubble and the company being exonerated by the court. Roland did not like to think about the whole matter, but what he knew gave him a good enough reason to dislike the company. Mr. Schnee was an excellent businessman, but also a ruthless money-hoarder who only cared about the profitableness of his empire.

Weiss Schnee finished her speech and looked expectantly at the younger girl, trying to find any signs of comprehension. Of course she was sorely disappointed; Ruby stared at her, looking hopelessly lost. Roland sighed to himself; he surely did not want to be in Ruby's place, or _anywhere_ near Weiss for that matter.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" She asked calmly.

Ruby brightened up a bit, obviously missing the insincerity in Weiss' voice. "Absolutely!"

Of course, her joy was short-lived as Weiss snapped at her again, pressing the pamphlet into her hand. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again!"

"Wow, that's a bit harsh." Jaune remarked as he watched the scene. Roland and Tanya hummed affirmatively.

"Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends?" Ruby's sister finally butted in. It was about time considering that, in a sense it was her fault that Ruby got herself into this mess.

"Great idea, sis!" Ruby exclaimed and held out her hand. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!" Roland rolled his eyes; _this is _so _not going to work._

Weiss gasped a bit too theatrically. "Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" She spoke and pointed at Jaune, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Jaune went scarlet red; one could not tell whether from embarrassment or anger. "Ha! Someone just got owned!" Tanya exclaimed and giggled out loud. The blonde in question only muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

"Oh really?!" Ruby exclaimed giddily.

Weiss gave her a cold look. "No." _I knew it wouldn't work._

Roland noticed headmaster Ozpin entering the stage, accompanied by another huntress. The grey-haired professor wore a simple dark green suit, while his associate was clothed in a white blouse, a black business skirt and black heels. Roland shushed the bickering girls and listened intently as Ozpin turned on the microphone and began speaking.

"I'll keep this brief." The headmaster adjusted his glasses and continued. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove your knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"Was that supposed to be a motivational speech?" Tanya whispered. "Because I don't feel encouraged in any way."

As the headmaster headed off the stage, his colleague stepped to the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." She announced and then walked after Ozpin. The students took it as their cue to leave the hall.

"I have to admit, I expected more." Roland remarked as he walked alongside Tanya and Jaune.

Soon Ruby, her sister and Weiss (much to Roland's displeasure) joined the three of them. "Well, he did seem a bit off." Ruby's sister commented.

"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby nodded in agreement; then she paused as if she remembered something. "Oh, if you didn't know, guys, this is my sister, Yang." She introduced her sister.

"Hey guys!" Yang exclaimed cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you, Yang!" Tanya beamed and introduced her friends. "I'm Tanya, this is Roland and-"

"My name is Jaune Arc; short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!" Jaune interrupted her and winked at Weiss, who smacked her forehead at his attempt to flirt with her. The other girls started snickering quietly. "And I'm a natural blonde, by the way…"

Roland nudged him and pulled him aside. "You're barking up the wrong tree, dude." He said quietly as Jaune gave him a puzzled look.

"What are you…"

"She's a daughter of the Schnee Dust Company's CEO." Roland explained while the girls, minus Weiss, were engrossed in their own talk. "She has no reason to pick you or any other guy in here, Jaune."

Jaune looked like he was going to argue but then he though the better of it. "I- I guess that was a bad idea." He conceded at last.

Roland shrugged. "I won't pretend I'm an expert at this kind of thing, but I'm sure that flaunting yourself won't help you here."

"I don't get it; my father always said that all women look for is confidence!" Jaune complained.

"Well, that depends on what one understands by 'confidence', you know?" Roland replied with an amused chuckle.

"I don't follow, Roland." Jaune said, being at a loss.

"Look, just… be yourself, okay?" Roland patted the blonde's shoulder. "Nobody's perfect, not even our resident Ice Queen." Both youngsters laughed quietly, unaware of a pair of emerald eyes observing them from afar.

* * *

The rest of the day proved to be rather uneventful. The professors provided the new students a tour around the academy so they would not get lost inside the enormous building. After getting to know the way around the school, the new students spent the rest of the day socializing or getting ready for the initiation which took place the next day. Roland headed to the locker room to check his luggage; he was unpleasantly surprised to find out he forgot to pack his grappling device. Ever since he was accepted into Beacon, he got obsessed with being ready for everything, so this discovery meant a considerable setback for him. At least he did not forget anything else.

Roland pulled a large suitcase out of his locker, which contained his weapons. His arsenal comprised of two knife-pistols with retractable blades and a custom-built rifle dubbed 'Thunderbolt'. His father Eugene built this gun himself after his bitter experience at the Schnee Dust Company; he was a talented engineer and a capable fighter, being the graduate from Sanctum Academy. He spent his next several years as a bounty hunter; killing monsters, pursuing escaped criminals and other sorts of work, as long as it was within the law. Father made himself quite a reputation and earned enough money to support his family. His career was cut short violently about two years ago after an accident on the job that left him confined to the wheelchair without both of his legs. His wife Vivianne had to take up a job in a grocery shop and had often to work overtime to keep her two children and increasingly depressed husband.

Roland sat in the room in silence, thinking about his family. His younger sister, Sapphire, had started attending the Signal Academy this year; he would wish her luck but she definitely would not need it because she had no problems socializing with other schoolmates. Roland, on the other hand… His parents were conflicted concerning his choice to study at Beacon. Father supported him and even offered to help him refine his shooting skills; for the first time since the accident he did not feel completely useless. Mother opposed Roland's decision, partly because she had never fully dealt with her husband's near fatal injury and did not want him to get hurt, but in the end she agreed, albeit reluctantly. For Roland it was enough of a motivation to pursue his dream.

He took the sleek rifle in his hands and examined it thoroughly. Unlike the most weapons of its kind, the Thunderbolt bore more rounded shapes; it had built-in retractable optics and a fifty-round drum magazine. It had three firing modes; semi-auto, burst and an overcharge regime, which used Dust to increase velocity, penetration and stopping power of the weapon. At the full charge, Thunderbolt was able to blow a hole in the wall; the price for the enormous firepower was drastically increased recoil that could even break a grown man's arm if the gun was not being handled properly. Thunderbolt was also meant for a melee combat for it was capable of shifting into a single-edged axe, where the blade was built into the butt of the weapon. The whole weapon also had a collapsible barrel to save some space. Thunderbolt was certainly not a perfect weapon and it had some flaws but that was compensated by maximized offensive capabilities and almost indestructible construction.

Roland put the rifle back in its case and checked the rest of his equipment; everything was in perfect condition, including the bulletproof vest, fingerless gauntlets which also served as elbow guards, and a belt for ammunition. He pulled out a nightwear, sleeping bag and a few other items from a large trunk; then he put the rest of his stuff into the locker and headed to the ballroom.

* * *

Up until the evening, Roland had nothing to do. Tanya was off, probably making friends with fellow newcomers; no idea about where Ruby, Yang or Jaune were. So he spent the rest of the day roaming around the school, bored out of his skull. During hours of wandering around he saw a lot of people… not that he would get to know them or talk to them at all. He had to admit he was terrible when it came to socializing; years of being bullied tended to have such an impact on a person. It took him months to get over his timidity after Emilio introduced him to his friends. Roland chuckled at the irony; over those six years he made some great progress, he learned how to fight, regained some of his confidence and could handle a gun like a professional yet he had trouble doing something so easy like talking to people. He probably would not make many friends here that way; but the first day at the academy did not start out bad though. Yang, Jaune and Ruby seemed like decent people… and then there was Weiss. Roland hoped honestly that he would never have to deal with the snobbish heiress personally. He took a dislike to her since the moment he first saw her and it was not just because her father happened to be his father's former employer. He had not said a word to her so far but he witnessed her quarrel with Ruby so he had an idea what kind of person Weiss was. That was exactly why he wanted to avoid her whenever possible.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Roland walked along the corridor, paying no attention to where he was going. As soon as he rounded the nearest corner he was brought back to reality when he bumped into someone. The other person let out a high pitched yelp as both of them fell to the floor.

"Agh!"

"Ow!"

Roland cursed silently as he rubbed his forehead; something like this happened every time he got distracted by his thoughts. He raised his head to see whom he had just knocked over. He was surprised to see the raven-haired girl that was there when Weiss was scolding Ruby after the Dust incident; only now he had the opportunity to see her up close. She wore a black vest over white sleeveless shirt, white shorts, black (or dark purple or whatever color it was) stockings and low-heeled shoes. She also had black bands wrapped around her arms and a bow in her hair; it kind of looked like cat ears, Roland noticed.

"Watch where you're going!" The girl hissed in irritation, holding her head. In her left hand she held a small book.

"Hey, you didn't pay attention either." Roland objected and pointed at the book in her hand. He picked himself up and extended his hand to the girl. She let out an exasperated sigh, probably because he interrupted her reading, but she took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet. Their gazes met for a brief moment; Roland could not help but feel astonished. The girl had bright yellow, almost cat-like eyes; he found out quite curious. _It kinda makes her even prettier… Stop it Roland, get a hold of yourself!_ "Um… Are you okay?" He asked a bit awkwardly.

"I'll be fine." The black-haired girl replied curtly. "I hope our next meeting will be less painful." She joked, keeping a straight face.

"No argument there." Roland could not help but smile. "I'm Roland, by the way."

"Blake."

"Okay, Blake. I guess I'll see you around, then."

Blake nodded slightly and walked away, continuing to read her book. Roland sighed as he watched the girl go. He was not even able to keep a conversation with her; how _pathetic_. He shook his head and continued wandering aimlessly around the school.

* * *

Later that day after the sun set, the new students were gathered in the ballroom. Most of them went to sleep early, wanting to be well-rested for the next day's initiation. Roland placed his sleeping bag near one of the windows and headed to the bathroom. He needed to take a shower really badly; he was reeking of sweat, probably from hauling his luggage to the airship in the morning. To his relief, the bathroom was empty; Roland took of his clothes and stepped into one of the shower stalls. Usually he would be done fairly quickly, this time he decided to make an exception, however. After about a quarter an hour of pure bliss, he was finally done. He dried himself up and put on his sleepwear, consisting of brown sweatpants and white undershirt. He stepped to the sink and looked in the mirror. He was greeted by the sight of a young man with disheveled brown hair and olive-brown eyes staring back at him. His sharp-featured face bore a few scars, the most noticeable ran along his right cheek; a reminder of a bike accident when he crashed into a streetlamp and got thrown through the window of a nearby shop. There was only a little that would remind him of his six years younger self; over the years of training with Emilio and his bunch he got significantly stronger. The tight undershirt seemed to accentuate his athletic build, not that he even cared to show off his body.

Ignoring his reflection in the mirror, Roland grabbed his toothbrush to clean his teeth. That was when Jaune barged into the bathroom. Roland looked at him and froze, his eyes popping out of his skull; the infamous Vomit boy was wearing sky blue one-piece pajamas and bunny slippers.

Jaune was completely oblivious to Roland gaping at him; he only noticed him when he started making strange, choking noises.

"Are you okay, man?" Jaune asked a bit worriedly.

The answer was almost immediate; Roland spat out the toothpaste and erupted in full-blown laughter. Jaune only stared at him in bafflement as he held his stomach and laughed hysterically. The blonde decided to wait until Roland calmed down a bit.

It took a while until the laughter finally died down. "Holy shit," Roland wheezed and wiped his eyes. "You're killing me, dude!" He looked at the blonde and started giggling again.

Jaune kept staring at him like if he was insane. "What's so funny?"

Roland burst out laughing again at Jaune's cluelessness. _Are you fucking kidding me?!_ "It's your freaking pajamas!" He managed to breathe out, making Jaune frown a bit. "Seriously dude, how old are you?!"

"What's wrong with my pajamas? It's comfy!" Jaune argued.

"That's what little kids are wearing!" Roland yelled out, his face tomato-red from laughter; it took every ounce of his willpower to calm down. "Look Jaune, I'm not trying to offend you or anything… but _this_ is just hilarious!"

Jaune folded his arms on his chest. "Are you done?" He asked with mild irritation, earning another giggle from Roland.

"Hey, I'm the one who should be complaining; I don't know if I'm gonna sleep tonight at all." Roland joked and resumed brushing his teeth. "Oh God… I think I might have peed a little."

"Laugh it up, Roland." Jaune waved his hand and pulled out his own toothbrush. "I'm sure we're gonna see even weirder things around here."

"Whatever you say, Bunny Boy." Roland chuckled as Jaune groaned audibly at the new nickname he gave him.

When they finally came back to the ballroom, they found out that the most of the newcomers was already asleep. A few half-naked boys were messing around at the other end of the room; it was a small miracle that they managed to keep the noise down. Among those who remained awake were also Ruby and her sister, who had just jumped onto the sleeping bag beside her.

"It's like a _big_ slumber party!" Yang exclaimed in excitement; she wore an orange top and black shorts while her sister had a black beowolf-themed top and pinkish pants with roses.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby muttered in response. She was writing down something, probably making an entry into her journal.

"I know _I _do…" Yang remarked and made a strange purring sound as she started ogling the bunch of wrestling boys. That was when Roland and Jaune came into her view. "Ugh!" Roland noticed her grimace and chuckled, ignoring Jaune's glare.

"Hey there, Yang, Ruby." Roland greeted the sisters politely. "What're you writing?" He asked Ruby.

"Eh, just a letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised I'd tell them about Beacon and how things are going." The younger sister replied with a small smile.

"Aww, that's so _cute_!" Yang gushed theatrically, earning a pillow into her face.

"Shut up!" Ruby retorted. "I didn't get to take my friends to with me to school; it's weird not knowing anyone here."

"Anyone?" Jaune protested. "What about us?"

"Hey, what's with all the racket here, guys?" Roland barely stopped himself from jumping as Tanya spoke up right next to him; she wore baggy blue pants and a white tank top. She had this habit of sneaking up on people; whenever she let her presence be known she usually scared the life out of them in the process. Not that it was intentional… mostly. "Where have you been all the time, Roland?" She questioned him.

"I, uh, went to the locker room to check on my guns and stuff; after that I kinda wandered around the school because I couldn't find any of you guys." Roland replied a bit sheepishly. He felt a bit guilty like if he ditched her the same way Yang did to Ruby.

"Oh… Well, since I couldn't see you anywhere I though you got lost around here or something." Tanya shrugged; then she looked at Jaune. "Hey there, Jaune… Nice PJ's… ?" She remarked, biting back laughter.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "At least you have some manners, unlike him." He mumbled and pointed at Roland who only grinned in response.

Yang laughed. "You see, sis? You made three friends in one day, 300 percent increase! Isn't that enough for you?"

"I'm sure Weiss counts as a negative friend." Ruby grumbled and lay on her back.

"There's no such thing as a negative friend; you just made three friends and one enemy!" Yang replied and promptly got smacked in the face by another pillow. The others only laughed silently.

"You sure know how to lift one's spirits, Yang." Tanya commented with a giggle.

"That's what I get for looking out for my baby sister." Yang remarked sarcastically. "But really, Ruby; you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."

"You see? I told you the same thing!" Jaune exclaimed.

Roland was not paying attention to the conversation, however; he was staring at the other end of the room. He was shaking a bit, like if he was cold. "Are you alright, Roland?" Jaune asked him worriedly. Roland did not reply; instead he pointed his right hand ahead and covered his mouth with the other. He was not cold or anything like that; he was trying to keep himself from laughing.

Jaune looked where he was pointing and he was greeted by a completely unexpected sight. There was the tallest and biggest boy he had seen so far, sitting at the window and holding… "Is that… a teddy bear?!" He whispered incredulously. Roland nodded; he did not dare to open his mouth because otherwise he would break into laughter. On the other hand, he should have expected something like that from someone like _Desmond_, the overly friendly blonde brute he ran into this morning.

The girls noticed fairly quickly what Roland and Jaune were staring at. Of course, their reactions differed. "He's got a teddy bear?! That's so cute!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I told you we'd see something even weirder than my PJ's!" Jaune said to Roland, flashing a victorious smile.

"Your pajamas are cute too!" Ruby joked and made everyone laugh at Jaune's expense.

"Look at him; he could easily break any of us in half." Tanya shook her head in astonishment. "I never thought I'd see someone like him hugging a teddy bear."

"Don't be so surprised; he's a _bear_ of a man, after all!" Yang said with a soft giggle. The others only rolled their eyes at her joke. "But he _is_ really ripped…"

"_Yang_…!" Ruby groaned in disapproval. "Haven't you been ogling enough boys today already?"

There was a low scratching sound as someone struck a match. Everyone turned their heads towards the sound and caught sight of a raven-haired girl with a bow in her head, wearing a black long-sleeved nightgown. She sat near a wardrobe and read a book by candlelight. Roland smiled to himself; Blake must have liked books a lot.

"That girl…" Ruby whispered.

Yang raised her eyebrow. "You know her?"

"Not really." Ruby shrugged. "She saw what happened this morning but left before I could say anything to her."

Yang grinned suddenly and Ruby shifted away from her for some reason. "Well, now's your chance!" Before Ruby could do or say anything her big sister gripped her hand and lifted her up.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Ruby yelped as Yang started dragging her towards Blake; she tried to wriggle out of her sister's grasp but to no avail.

Tanya flashed a wide smile. "I wanna see how this is going." She said and walked after the two sisters. Jaune and Roland looked at each other, then shrugged and followed her.

"Hello!" Yang exclaimed in a sing-song voice, making Blake avert her eyes from her book. She was unaware of nasty glares Ruby was giving her. "I believe you two may know each other?" She pointed at her pouting sister.

Blake took a long look at the newcomers. "Aren't you the girl that exploded?" She asked as she set her eyes on Ruby. Roland, Jaune and Tanya started laughing quietly; Blake silenced them with a glare. "You do know it's inappropriate to laugh at someone's misfortune; right, Roland?" She spoke in a reproaching manner, surprising everyone present except Roland.

"Small world, eh?" Yang remarked with a knowing smile.

"We ran into each other this afternoon." Roland said with a shrug and looked at Blake. "Again, sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it."

Ruby let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, hello there; I'm Ruby." She said and held out her hand, which Blake ignored. "But you can call me Crat-err…" She shot a glare at Jaune who burst in giggles at her slip-up. "Actually you can just call me Ruby."

"Okay…" Blake replied slowly, only barely suppressing a smile.

Yang gave her sister a quizzical look. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know! Help me!" Ruby shot back.

"Soo… what's your name?" Yang asked again, grinning from ear to ear.

Blake let out a mildly exasperated sigh. "It's Blake."

"Word of advice, guys: Never disturb anyone while they're reading. _Ever_." Tanya whispered. She and the boys kept watching Yang trying to make a conversation with Blake… and failing. The raven-haired girl was more interested in her book than in banter with the buxom blonde.

"I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister. I like your bow!"

"Thanks."

"It goes great with your, uh, pajamas!"

"Right…"

"Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes, it's lovely… almost as lovely as this book." Blake was visibly annoyed at this point. "Which I will continue to read… as soon as you all leave." She finished with a slight frown and averted her gaze from the two sisters.

"Yeah, this girl is a lost cause." Yang scoffed and waved her hand dismissively.

"What's it about?" Ruby piped up.

Blake raised her head, caught by surprise by her question. "Huh?"

"Your book." The younger sister inquired. "Does it have a name?"

"Well, it's about a man with two souls; each fighting for control over his body." Blake explained.

"Yeah, that's _really_ lovely." Yang remarked with a sarcastic undertone.

"Be nice, Yang." Tanya scolded her. "It's not our place to criticize someone's tastes." Roland and Jaune murmured their approval.

Ruby took a step towards Blake. "I love books." She said with a smile. "Yang used to read me every night before bed; stories of heroes and monsters. They're one of the reasons I wanted to be a huntress."

"And why is that?" Blake asked in amused voice. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will. As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes; someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"Show me a kid who _wouldn't_ want to be a hero." Roland remarked dryly.

"That's pretty ambitious for a child." Blake said with a soft smile. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairytale."

"That's why we're here, right?" Ruby replied confidently. "To make it better."

"So touching…" Tanya sniffled and covered her eyes. Roland could not tell whether she feigned the emotion or not; but he had to agree with her.

"Oh, I'm _so_ proud of my baby sister!" Yang exclaimed and pulled her sister into a bear hug, lifting her up.

"Yang!" Ruby started thrashing wildly as she tried to break free from her sister's crushing embrace. "Cut it out!" She yelled and quite unexpectedly punched Yang straight in the face. Both siblings became a series of blurs as they began hitting each other.

The others, Blake included, watched in amazement as the sisterly bonding session turned into a violent scuffle. "Wow… For such a little girl, Ruby sure can throw quite a mean punch." Jaune remarked.

"Shouldn't we, like, try to get them to stop?" Roland mused aloud.

"Why? They'll get tired eventually." Tanya replied with an amused smile. "Me and my bro were like that all the time, when we were younger."

Blake opened her mouth and was about to say something but someone else beat her to it. "What in the world is going on over here?!" Roland winced in pain as that certain someone shrilled right next to him and nearly busted his eardrum. _Goddammit, why me?! _Ruby and Yang stopped fighting almost turned around and almost instantly wished he did not when he saw a familiar heiress in a white nightgown. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!" Weiss shouted in irritation.

"Oh, not y_ou_ again!" Both Yang and Weiss shouted as soon as they noticed each other.

"Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" Ruby exclaimed, trying to stop them from arguing.

"I'm gonna hit the bed." Roland excused himself and went to his sleeping back. "I've been nearly deafened too many times today." Tanya grinned sheepishly at his remark.

"Oh, _now_ you're on my side?!" Weiss snapped at Ruby.

"I was _always _on your side!" Ruby objected. Tanya and Jaune decided to follow Roland's example and went to sleep, leaving the girls to argue with each other.

"What's your problem with my sister?! She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!"

Blake rolled her eyes and blew the candles. It did not take long before the argument died down; now everyone could sleep in peace.

* * *

Author's note:_ Another chapter's out, ending the first day of our protagonists at Beacon. Hope you enjoyed! The updates won't be much frequent because I have a lot of stuff to do this month, including the exams, but I'll try to post new chapters whenever I can._

_Reply to _Vieltrien'_s review (Jan 5)__: I haven't planned the pairings so far ahead, so I'm not sure about that yet. But I'll probably disappoint you because I'm a shameless Arkos shipper (I can't imagine our favorite blonde goofball with anyone else, not even Ruby). I hope I didn't discourage you from reading this story, though. And thanks for reviewing (Fun fact: it was the first review of my stories written in english :-)_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – One step of many

"WAKE UP LAZY BUTT!"

Roland's eyes snapped open as the high-pitched shout broke him out of his slumber. Bleary-eyed and confused, he looked around, wondering where he was again exactly. It took a few seconds before he finally remembered; the majestic Beacon Academy, the headmaster's rather vague speech, a big sleepover in the ballroom… He realized that the ballroom was almost empty with the exception of a few other sleepers. _Damn it, today's the initiation_, Roland thought. He knew he should get up… but he did not feel like it yet.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! IT'S MORNING!"

Roland gritted his teeth in annoyance and looked towards the source of the noise. There was a red-haired girl in white and pink attire; pink skirt and shoes, white top with a heart-shaped cut and detached sleeves, some kind of torso armor, and pink fingerless gloves. She was jumping around and babbling excitedly; she was talking at a rate that made it very difficult to make out words. Her victim was a black-haired boy wearing a dark green coat and white pants; the poor guy had a tormented expression as the girl in pink kept talking his ear off. Roland sympathized with him but at the same time he was in awe; it was beyond him that the raven-haired boy bore no signs of insanity.

Roland groaned and stuck his head under the pillow; the red-haired chatterbox was giving him a major headache. "Why? Why won't she shut her trap for one goddamn minute…" He whispered angrily to himself. _I already hate this day _so_ much_…This was the worst morning he had ever had… since that one time when he overslept and nearly came late to school; his little sister woke him up by jumping on him. As much as he loved his sister, that time he was really angery with her and he did to speak with her for days. The green-clad boy and his chatty friend finally left after a few minutes, not that it did much to help him. His morning was already ruined, the rest of the day could not be much worse. Roland got up and changed into his casual clothes, muttering colorful curses as he did so. Packing the few things he brought to the ballroom yesterday, he skipped the morning hygiene and headed straight to the cafeteria.

The place was already packed with students who chatted with each other as they ate their breakfast. Roland picked up a plate and went to see what was on the menu. _Let's see what we've got here; eggs, bacon, cereal… Pancakes?! Heh, that's a no-brainer._ He grinned and loaded his plate with pancakes, not forgetting the syrup. He poured himself a mug of coffee and then he took a seat at one of a few tables that remained empty. He did not waste any time and dug into the sweet meal, washing it down with strong coffee.

Too preoccupied with devouring his breakfast, Roland did not notice someone sitting down next to him. The bench creaked and he would swear that it tilted slightly to the side. "Hello Roland! Whatcha doing?" A familiar cheery voice said.

Roland, a bit startled by a sudden foreign presence, turned to the right and saw a familiar giant blonde smiling brightly at him. He barely suppressed a chuckle. "I'm eating, Desmond. What else does it look like?" He replied amusedly and continued eating.

Desmond stared at him with an unreadable expression for a moment. Then he broke into a smile. "I can see that, silly!" He replied and dug into his breakfast; a double, maybe even triple portion of pancakes drowned in syrup. Roland could not help but stare at the pile of food in amazement; on the other hand, Desmond would probably devour it without any trouble.

"So… How was your first day at Beacon?" Roland said, trying to make a conversation.

"Pretty good, I guess." Desmond replied, his mouth full of pancakes; he did not seem to care much for table manners. Roland kept eating while listening to the overgrown blonde. "It's really cool in here; it's like we're living in a castle, you know? Oh, and there's a lot of people… But most of them wouldn't talk to me, though. Maybe they were scared of me. My friends say that I look really scary, but I have no idea why would people think that. Do _you_ know why would people think that, Roland?" He suddenly asked and looked at him expectantly.

Roland was quiet for a while, carefully thinking over the answer. It was obvious that Desmond was not a very bright person. "Well, people tend to treat differently those who are different from them." He explained while Desmond kept shoveling the food into his mouth. "For example, _you_ are bigger than most of the people, so the others will probably stay away from you."

Desmond seemed completely baffled by his explanation. "I'm scary because I'm… big?" He said slowly, but not threateningly (to Roland's immense relief).

"I-It's nothing personal, alright?" Roland continued, stammering a bit. "People are always wary of someone who's bigger than them, it's completely normal. It's just that some of those big people tend to pick on the others because they think they're better than everyone else just because they're strong."

"But I'm not like these people." Desmond grumbled.

"The others don't know that." Roland said patiently. "They'll warm to you eventually, once they get to know you better. That's all."

Again, Desmond stared at him in silence before he brightened up. "Right... I never thought about that this way! Man, I'm so dumb sometimes… But anyway, thanks buddy!"

Roland could not help but laugh at Desmond's silliness. Despite his intimidating stature, he behaved a bit like a little boy; but otherwise he seemed to be a good person, despite his _peculiar_ behavior. "You're welcome, big guy." His smile vanished from his lips as soon as he heard the unpleasantly familiar voice, the same voice that ruined his sleep this morning.

"…well, but not _together_-together, you know! I'm not saying you're not handsome; you _are_ handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?... Oh Gosh, Ren, look! They have pancakes! I LOVE PANCAKES!"

The raven-haired boy, Ren, rolled his magenta-colored eyes. "Let's just grab some food." The chatty red-head nodded eagerly with the ever-present beaming smile. Both of them loaded their plates with pancakes; the redhead covered the sweet meal with a thick layer of syrup.

"Oh no…" Roland groaned quietly. He was dismayed by the amount of sugar the already too lively redhead was about to take.

Desmond noticed his expression of utter horror. "Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly… until he noticed the newcomers. "Hey look, that's Nora!" He stood up and waved at the unusual couple. "Hey there, Nora!" The redhead, Nora, waved back happily before she resumed eating her breakfast. Of course, her mouth full of food did not stop her from talking; her friend Ren just kept nodding, probably not even listening to her.

"Nora, huh?" Roland said, amazed that Desmond made friends with the bubbly pink-loving redhead.

Desmond smiled. "Yeah… We kinda bumped into each other yesterday after the tour ended. She's really nice." He paused as he recalled something. "Ooh, and she has a really cool grenade launching hammer, I forgot its name but it looked _super _awesome! Me and Nora played tag for a while and she's like _really_ fast; we tried to get Ren to join us but he's always _so_ serious…"

"Maybe he was just tired." Roland replied. "I know I would be if I had to keep an eye on _her_ all the time." He finished his meal and rose from the table. "I'm heading to the locker room; I gotta get ready for the initiation. See you around, Demond."

He was stopped when Desmond reached out and caught his sleeve. "Wait! I've heard people talking that the newbies are gonna be split into teams." Desmond spoke, becoming hesitant all of a sudden. "I was thinking that maybe we could be in one team together, uh, if you don't mind…"

_Teams? _Roland did not know a thing about students being in teams; he really should have read Beacon's study rules. This made him worried about what group of people he would end up with. He would prefer to spend the next four years with people he already knew; but he reasoned that he would not mind being with a bunch of strangers… as long as they were reasonable people. "I'm not sure if we get to pick our teammates, so I can't promise anything." He told Desmond. "But I won't mind it if we both end up in the same team together."

"Oh… Okay." Desmond replied with a smile that seemed somewhat strained. "See ya." Then he continued devouring his pancakes.

Roland walked out of the cafeteria, thinking about the Initiation. Ironically, the talk about teams worried him more that the Initiation itself. If he remained level-headed, alert and used his brains, he would pull this thing off. But this whole team matter… He would have no control over who would become his teammates, and that bothered him to no end. He prayed to whoever resided up there that he would not end up with Weiss or Nora. The bubbly redhead would drive him insane within days and him and Weiss would be probably at each other's throats all the time. He really hoped he would avoid those two; otherwise he would deal with almost anything. He walked the hallways for a while to clear his head a little and then he went straight to the locker room.

* * *

Jaune was having a bad day, to put it mildly. First, he overslept, then he got stuck in a queue in the cafeteria and to top it all off, he forgot where he put all his stuff. And it just_ had_ to happen right on the day of Initiation! He was walking around the locker room for five minutes now and he did not found his damn locker yet.

"There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday!" He grumbled to himself in both anger and desperation. "I would've remembered having to count that high. Ugh, why does _this_ have to happen today?!"

"Need some help, Jaune?" He stopped in his tracks as he heard the familiar voice. He looked to the left; Tanya stood there, leaning on a locker and grinning at him. She was already prepared for whatever might come at her during the initiation; that included shin and elbow guards and two saber-like swords at her belt.

"Uh, heh, hey there." Jaune said with a sheepish smile. "I just- I can't seem to find my locker, that's all."

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" Then she pointed to her right at the opposite side of the room. "Your locker is right there, next to mine. Try to remember that, please." She said with a snicker before she walked away. "See you later."

"Same here. And thanks." Jaune replied gratefully and went to the direction Tanya showed him. On his way he walked past Ruby and her sister Yang; the younger of the two girls seemed to be cuddling her monstrosity of a weapon she called 'Crescent Rose' while her sister was giving her strange looks.

"Look, sis, you're not the only one going through the Initiation today. If you really wanna grow you gotta meet new people and learn to work together." Yang lectured her sister who apparently did not listen to her at all. Suddenly she caught sight of Jaune and smirked. "Right, Jaune?" She called at the fellow blonde.

Jaune froze when he heard his name being called. Just like Ruby, he did not listen to their conversation either. Yang was smiling at him and giving him a thumb-up gesture. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uhh… right? Yeah, of course, definitely!" He concurred, though he had no idea what the girls were talking about.

Yang smirked victoriously at her sister. "See? Jaune agrees with me!"

Ruby frowned. "Ugh, you both sound like Dad…" She grumbled and slammed her locker shut. "Okay. First of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting, and secondly, I don't need people to help me grow up! I. Drink. Milk." She exclaimed proudly and folded her arms on her chest. Jaune started snickering at her comment but was promptly silenced by Ruby's glare.

"But what about when we form teams?" Yang questioned. Jaune froze at the mention of teams; how could he miss this? He had to add yet another thing to his list of complications.

Ruby sighed, her demeanor completely changing. "I don't know; I guess I'll just be on your team or… something." She said a bit hesitantly.

"Well, maybe you should try being on someone else's team?" Yang argued and started playing with her hair.

Ruby took a few steps towards her sister; she was smiling sweetly but her eyes were blazing with anger. "My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you don't wish to be on the same team as me?!" She practically yelled the last part, jabbing her finger into Yang's chest.

Jaune gulped nervously. "Uh, I gotta go… pick up my gear. I'll se ya later!" He said hastily and left the girls to argue with each other. He did not hear Yang's sarcastic 'thanks Jaune' as he scurried away from them. He made a few steps before a loud clatter echoed suddenly through the room, startling everyone present.

There was a dead silence after the noise died down… with one exception. "_Fuck_…" Jaune heard Roland exclaim in annoyance; the brown-haired youngster stared at the pile of his combat gear that had fallen out of his locker when he opened it. Yang and Ruby watched the scene for a few seconds before they resumed their argument.

Jaune walked to his locker and opened it, pulling out his weapons. He noticed his hands shaking slightly; he was already a bundle of nerves and the talks about teams did not help him at all. He turned around when Roland yawned loudly. "Couldn't sleep?" Jaune asked.

"Huh?" Roland spun around and relaxed when he saw Jaune. "Oh, no, the sleep wasn't half bad. But the wake-up call really sucked." He said a bit drowsily and started pulling various things out of the disorganized heap. He grumbled in annoyance as he was trying to sort them out.

Jaune stared incredulously at the quantity of things Roland had stored in his locker. "Do you really plan on dragging all this stuff along?"

"It's my combat gear… okay, _most_ of it; so yes, I'm taking it with me for the Initiation." He replied smoothly.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "And you're sure you're gonna need all of it?"

"You bet." Roland replied with a smirk. "Shooting things is about the only thing I'm really good at so I gotta stick with my guns." He reached for a long brown suitcase and pulled a large rounded metalobject out of it. Something clicked and a stock and a long barrel along with optics extended out of it, revealing it to be some kind of rifle. Roland then picked up a drum-shaped magazine and loaded the weapon; then he set it on the nearby bench. "This is my gat." He announced proudly. "I like to call her Thunderbolt."

"Don't let Ruby see that or else she would go into super-geek mode." Jaune joked.

"You got a point there, Bunny boy." Roland replied, ignoring Jaune's annoyed groan. "I also got these two." He grabbed a belt with two holsters and pulled out a pistol-dagger hybrid.

Jaune gave him a blank stare. "One gun isn't enough for you?" He said in a disbelieving voice. Roland only laughed at him in response and spun the pistol a few times before putting it back into the holster. Then he picked up a strange jacket covered with interlocked plates of dark metal and put it on. Jaune went silent for a moment, deciding whether or not ask _the_ question. _To hell with this_, he thought in the end. "You've heard this talk about the freshmen being split in teams, right Roland?" He began hesitantly.

To his surprise, Roland chuckled. "You're the second person to ask me that today, Jaune." He said as put metal wrist guards on his hands; with a mechanical click they extended to protect his forearms. "And before you say anything I'll tell you exactly what I told the first one; I won't mind being on the same team with you, Jaune. In fact, I don't care with whom I end up, as long as they're not complete assholes."

Jaune brightened up considerably after hearing this. "Okay… that's cool."

"Well, I doubt we can pick our teammates, so don't get your hopes up." Roland said and buckled his belt with pistols and ammunition.

Neither he nor Jaune noticed infamous heiress of the Schnee Dust Company appearing a short distance behind them. She was accompanied by a tall emerald eyed girl with scarlet hair. Weiss' companion wore a red-and-gold armor consisting of strapless chest piece with long red detached sleeves, short asymmetrical skirt, bronze armor covering her legs and left forearm, and red heeled boots. She had her waist-long hair tied into a ponytail and also wore a bronze band that kept her hair out of her face. She only half-listened as the heiress was talking to her; she was distracted by gazing at one particular armored blonde who was talking to a brunette in what appeared to be a bulletproof jacket.

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone would be eager to unite with such a strong well-known individual such as yourself!" Weiss spoke and broke her out of her reverie.

Roland froze when he heard the heiress' voice and dropped one of the pistol magazines. _Of all people it has to be _her… he thought and his face contorted into an irritated scowl. Jaune noticed the sudden shift in Roland's mood and was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed Weiss and a red-haired war-maiden standing nearby. He could not help but stare at the red-and-gold armored girl; he found her strangely familiar for some reason… and also attractive. "Hmm… I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." She said, answering Weiss' question. Jaune finally snapped out of his trance and averted his gaze, blushing furiously.

"Schnee…." He heard Roland whisper. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

"Yup." Jaune whispered back, his cheeks still burning from embarrassment. Roland shook his head and resumed strapping the ammo magazines onto his belt.

"I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss suggested.

"That sounds grand!" The redhead, Pyrrha, replied.

"Great!" Weiss exclaimed in delight and turned back to her locker, making a rather sinister grin; Jaune found the sight quite disturbing.

"I hate to burst your bubble, Schnee, but I really doubt they'll let us pick our teammates." Roland said; he was already finished with his preparations and his rifle was rested in a holster on his back.

Weiss froze and her smirk vanished; she turned to Roland and narrowed her eyes at him. "Do I know you?" She asked slowly.

Roland remained silent for a brief moment and then he smacked his forehead in a theatrical manner. "Oh, where are my manners?" He exclaimed and extended his hand. "My name's Roland Peregrine, pleasure to meet you." He introduced himself; Weiss ignored his extended arm. _Okay, Princess, I don't like you either,_ he thought and pointed at Jaune. "My colleague here is Jaune Arc; I believe you two know each other."

"Hello there." Jaune said with a wave.

Pyrrha smiled. "Nice to meet you!" Jaune swore he could feel his cheeks heating up again.

"Likewise." Roland replied and bowed his head slightly.

Weiss frowned when she laid eyes on the blonde. "You again?" Jaune's only response was a sheepish laugh. The heiress turned her attention to Roland. "Alright, Mr. Peregrine, what do _you_ know about the formation of teams?" She challenged.

Roland gave her a blank look. "I figured that letting us pick our teammates would be too easy. And from what I know, the Beacon Academy is anything _but_ easy. That's why I think we won't have any say in that matter." He replied.

Weiss glared daggers at Roland, obviously not satisfied with his answer. Jaune took his opportunity; he still had yet to get back at Weiss for calling him scraggly yesterday. "No need to get all angry, Snow Angel." He said suavely and made a step towards Weiss, causing her to recoil and mutter something about 'personal space'. "Blowing up at people tends to shorten your life and I'm sure you don't want that, right?" Weiss' face grew redder and redder as he went on. Pyrrha tried her best to bite back giggles; Roland, on the other hand, was laughing openly.

"I can control my feelings just fine!" Weiss barked at Jaune who promptly shifted away from her.

Pyrrha spoke up, attempting to change the subject. "Just so you all know, I've heard that the teams are comprised of four students each."

Jaune smirked. "Oh really? Then maybe you'll get lucky and end up with the winning team." He said and gestured to himself and Roland.

"Look, Jaune, we don't even know _how_ the teams will be formed…" Roland objected, but Jaune ignored him and rambled on. "Why do I even bother..." He grumbled to himself, shaking his head.

"What my friend is trying to say is that the spots are filling rather quickly, so if you're interested…"

Weiss finally decided to cut him off. "Jaune, was it?" She questioned. "Do you have a slightest idea who you're talking to?"

"Her name's Pyrrha and she's nice." Jaune shrugged. "Other than that, I really don't know."

"Allow me to enlighten you, then." Weiss huffed. "Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."

"Sanctum?" Jaune said, tilting his head in confusion.

Roland's reaction was entirely different. "Really? My Dad is a Sanctum graduate too!" He exclaimed.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to say something but Weiss beat her to it. "Irrelevant; she won the Mistral regional tournament for times in a row. A new record!" The heiress sounded even more irritated than before.

"Eh, I don't really follow sports events, sorry." Roland said with an apologetic smile. Jaune only blurted out 'the what now?'.

Weiss finally snapped. "Argh, she's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow flakes box!" She shrilled, waving her arms around wildly.

Jaune gasped; his face finally showed some signs of recognition. "I knew I've seen you before!" He cried out. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Brings back memories…" Roland mumbled to himself with a dreamy smile.

Pyrrha chuckled. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't good for you."

Weiss was not done with the boys, though. "So, after hearing all this, do you really think you two are in a position to ask _her_ to be on _your_ team?" She questioned with a victorious smile.

Jaune looked at the floor dejectedly, not knowing what to say. Roland, on the other hand, got unexpectedly angry. "And who are _you_ to decide who's adequate and who's not, Schnee?" He retorted.

"I'm not deciding anything!" Weiss argued. "I'm only saying that you two don't appear to be anywhere near Pyrrha's level-"

"What?!" Roland thundered. "You barely know any of us and you're already jumping to conclusions? With this snotty attitude of yours, I'm surprised you haven't pissed off half of this school yet!"

"How dare you!"

Jaune could only watch as Weiss and Roland were shouting at each other angrily, drawing the attention of others. He wanted to stop the quarrel before the weapons got involved; the very thought of weapons kept him from intervening. "Why does this have to happen today?" He sighed sadly. He got startled as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Pyrrha smiling at him warmly.

"You know, I think you'd make a great leader, Jaune."She said encouragingly.

"Uhh… Thanks!" Jaune replied, not really sure what to say.

Professor Goodwitch chose this time to speak via the intercom. "Will all first year students please report to the Beacon cliff for initiation? I repeat; all first year students report to the Beacon cliff immediately." Even the arguing couple went quiet to listen to the announcement; both of them were still fuming with anger, though. Weiss glared once more at Jaune and stomped away with a huff.

Pyrrha let out a soft sigh. "Well, it was nice meeting you." She said and then walked after the heiress.

"Likewise!" Jaune called after her.

"Same here, Pyrrha." Roland answered; he tried to sound calm even though he was still visibly angry.

"Having some trouble here, boys?" Yang called, approaching the boys along with Tanya and Ruby.

"Not anymore, Yang." Roland grumbled in exasperation. "I assume you saw the whole thing?"

"Yep. You look pretty scary when you're angry." Ruby remarked.

Roland scoffed. "I can't be that bad, Red Hood." Yang snickered quietly at his new nickname for her sister.

"Well, I can't blame him. Weiss doesn't seem to be an easy person to get along with." Tanya mused aloud.

Yang walked up to Jaune. "You're being awfully quiet, Lady killer." She said with a grin and poked him in the side, making him wince a little.

"Let's just go." Roland exclaimed with a hint of irritation. No one seemed to want to argue with him, not even Yang. The five students set off to the Beacon cliff, ready for whatever the headmaster was about to throw at them.

* * *

The cliff towering over the vast green forest was usually a quiet place; the reality was quite different this day. A group of twenty first-year students was gathered near the edge of the cliff; each of them was standing on a simple metal plate. Headmaster Ozpin was standing before them, along with professor Goodwitch. The atmosphere was thick; the students stood at their places with their weapons ready. Some of those were more nervous than the others; this was also Jaune's case. The blonde looked nervously at his fellow students; in the row by his left stood Ruby, Yang, Tanya, Roland, and several other he did not know. Pyrrha and Weiss were in the center of the row. On Pyrrha's right stood a rather short red haired boy wearing a sleeveless green shirt, black pants and a khaki cloak. Jaune narrowed his eyes in confusion when he caught sight of… a fox tail?

Ozpin cleared his throat; twenty pairs of eyes were instantly focused on him. "For years, you have trained to become warriors." The headmaster spoke. "Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Ozpin fell silent, giving the floor to his colleague. "Now I'm sure many of you have heard the rumors about the assignment of teams." Professor Goodwitch said. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates…. _today_."

"What?" Ruby croaked in confusion.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued. Tanya and Roland fist-bumped, while Ruby groaned again. "That being said, first person to make an eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT?!" Ruby exclaimed in shock. _She _really_ wants to be on team with her sister_, Jaune thought amusedly; suddenly the smile vanished from his lips. _Wait… did he say _landing_?!_

"See? I told you!" Some of the students said quietly.

Ozpin paid no notice to the commotion and went on. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will _die_." Jaune gulped involuntarily.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." The headmaster continued. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics; each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard the item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately."

"Any questions?" Ozpin asked suddenly. Jaune raised his hand, but the headmaster ignored him. "Good; now take your positions."

The students took the combat stance, ready to begin; the only exception was Jaune, who still stood there with his hand raised. There was a loud clicking sound and one of the students was launched into the air into the Emerald Forest. Jaune shivered. "Sir? Uh… I have a question." He began hesitantly. "What did you mean by this… 'landing strategy' thing?" He grew more nervous as the students were one by one launched into the forest.

"YAY!" One of them screamed in mid-air; it was the big one with a teddy bear.

"You will be using your own strategy to ensure a safe landing and a continuation of your initiation." Ozpin replied, oblivious to the blonde's cluelessness.

"Oh… right." Jaune mumbled; growing pale as Roland, Tanya, Yang and finally Ruby were launched. "And what if I do not have any strateg-" He did not get to finish the sentence as he was flung into the air.

* * *

Author's note: _Another chapter out, a small win for me (I'm still battling with my writer's block, among other things...). Next time we'll look at (mis)adventures of our protagonists in the Emerald Forest. Hope you enjoy the story so far, I'll appreciate any feedback :-)_


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